I have to say I was skeptical about buying a welder at Princess Auto but when I saw that these welders were made in Italy and further research showed that the Deca Welders are sold in the US under the Ryobi name, I thought what the heck. Picked up a 130 AC, wire feed 'no gas' welder today and am pretty impressed with it, so far.

I welded up some 1/8" metal on the "Low" setting and I think it works excellent. Lots of spatter, like a 6011 electrode but other than that, I like it.

I wonder if this thing can be 'converted' to an arc welder, or if there are different varieties of flux core wire for nicer welds?

 

I dont know any thing about flux core wire but is there an upgrade available to add sheilding gas to make it a MIG welder instead of a straight flux wire welder?

 

Yes, the 150E model is mig capable and from what I could tell at PA, it's only about 30 dollars more.

 

The MIG options might cut down on the splatter some.

 

I wasn't really interested in the MIG option because I don't want to be fussing about with the extra space needed for a bottle etc. when I can use the 400 volt mig at work if I really need to.

I took the side panel off my unit and I don't see any reason why I can't hook up a cable and clamp to run it as an arc/SMAW welder, which would be sweet, as that's what I learned on and 7018AC electrodes make clean strong welds.

Incidentally, I found a link to plans to build your own 130 amp TIG welder for about $300.00... http://classicbroncos.com/homemade-welder.shtml

 

The control system for MIG and stick are totally different- MIG is constant voltage, whereas stick and TIG are constant amperage.

 

Yeah, I was doing some more reading and the OCV probably isn't high enough anyway... oh well, I'll jsut get a little grinder and some flap wheels to clean stuff up if needed.

 

I have the Deca 180E mig welder from princess auto. Got it on sale for $550, regular almost $800. Works excellent. I have alot of contol over heat and wire feed, and I have the option of running gas as well. Seems like a quality budget welder to me.

EDIT: Didn't realise the age of this thread. oops.